Lightwave telecommunication systems using glass fiber guides are now being manufactured and installed on a regular commercial basis. To reach this point required the development and harmonious combination of light sources, light guides and light detectors. For a review of this process see, for example, the article by S. E. Miller entitled "Overview of Telecommunications Via Optical Fibers," published in the October 1980 Proc. of the IEEE, Vol. 68, No. 10, pp. 1173-1174.
As this initial era of experimental and trial installations ends, we look forward to the need to send more information over each fiber. This effort will involve a further development of new components and, in accordance with the present invention, more efficient use of currently available components.